Jamie Condliffe

Robots aren't known for their gentle touch and thoughtful caress, but that could all be about to change. A team of engineers has developed a robotic finger that's capable of detecting textures—and it's more sensitive than a human hand.

When the finger moves across the surface of a piece of textured material, small vibrations are transmitted through the skin and liquid, and then detected by a hydrophone—basically, an underwater microphone—housed within the core. As well as detecting texture, the researchers claim it can also sense directional forces and temperature, too.

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The team trained the robot finger to detect 117 materials, then got it to identify a small set of the samples as a test. It managed to get the correct answer 95 percent of the time, which is more accurate than a human hand, according to the team.

The development could, of course, form part of a new generation of artificial limbs that not only provide their users with dexterity, but the ability to feel again. That is science fiction turned reality, right there. [USC via GizMag]